Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Anja Niedringhaus died on April 4, 2014, killed on assignment in Afghanistan. Her life and work serves to remind us of the extraordinary sacrifices journalists make to keep us all informed.
A collection of Anja’s powerful images from Afghanistan and Pakistan will be on display at Harvard from May 9 – June 2, 2024 in honor of the 10th anniversary of her death. The exhibition is curated by Anja’s friends Ami Beckmann, Kathy Gannon (Spring 2022 Shorenstein Center fellow), and Muhammed Muheisen.
The exhibit will open with a reception on May 9 from 5 – 7 pm in Allison Dining Room in the Taubman Building on HKS campus (15 Eliot St, Cambridge, MA 02138). A short speaking program about Anja and her work will feature Kathy Gannon (who covered Afghanistan and Pakistan f0r The Associated Press for 35 years until her retirement in 2022, and was seriously injured in the attack that killed Anja), Elke Niedringhaus-Haasper (Anja’s sister and journalist) who will share her memories that remind us of the person Anja was and the loss we share, Jessica Bruce (Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Communications, The Associated Press) and Kathleen Carroll (Executive Editor of The Associated Press from 2002-2016). Light Refreshments will be served.
The exhibit will be on view from May 10 – June 2 at the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) in the Knafel Concourse (1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138).
This event is co-sponsored by the Nieman Foundation. Anja Niedringhaus was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism from 2006 – 2007.
About the photographer:
The Pulitzer prize winning photographer, Anja Niedringhaus (1965-2014), started her career as a freelance photographer for a local newspaper in her hometown in Hoexter, Germany at the age of 16. After finishing high school, she went on to study German literature, philosophy, and journalism in Goettingen, Germany.
While in university, Niedringhaus continued to freelance as a photographer for various newspapers and magazines. Among the events she covered was the Fall of the Berlin Wall which led to a staff position as photographer for the European Press Photo Agency, EPA in Frankfurt, in 1990. She worked at EPA as chief photographer until 2001 focusing much of her time covering the brutal conflict in the former Yugoslavia. She was based for several years in Sarajevo and in Moscow.
In 2002 she joined the Associated Press, AP, as a staff photographer based in Geneva, Switzerland, which remained her base. In the ensuing years Niedringhaus has covered most of the world’s conflict regions in Israel, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition to photographing conflicts and political crisis around the world, Niedringhaus also covered the world’s premier sporting events, including nine Olympic Games.
The internationally acclaimed photographer died on April 4th, 2014, when an Afghan policeman opened fire on her car in Banda Khel, in eastern Afghanistan. Niedringhaus (48) and her friend and colleague Kathy Gannon, who was seriously injured were alone in their car in a heavily guarded Afghan police compound, when a police commander opened fire on them with his AK47 rifle.
In 2005 Niedringhaus and a team of AP photographers won the Pulitzer Prize in the breaking news category for their coverage of the war in Iraq. The same year Niedringhaus received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
From 2006 to 2007, Niedringhaus was awarded a Nieman Fellowship in journalism at Harvard University.
Over the past 20 years Niedringhaus’ work has garnered numerous prizes. They include Pictures of the Year International, BOP Best of Photojournalism, Clarion Awards, The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, Award Winner of the ‘Goldene Feder’ Hamburg and winner of the ‘Abisag Tuellmann’ award for reportage photography in 2011.
Niedringhaus’ work has been exhibited in a number of prestigeous art houses and museums including the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt, the C/O Gallery in Berlin, the Art Collection of the German stock exchange in Frankfurt, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas as well as in museums and galleries in the United States, London, Austria, Switzerland and Canada.
Anja Niedringhaus published two books: In 2001 ‘Fotografien’ (Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt) and in 2011 ‘At War’ (Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern).
